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6/23/2013: The Lord in the Storm
Acts 27:13-32 New International Version (NIV) The Storm 13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island.15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, 17 so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchora]">http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+27%3A13-32&version=NIV#fen-NIV-27873a a and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. 21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” The Shipwreck 27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriaticb]">http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+27%3A13-32&version=NIV#fen-NIV-27883b b Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feetc]">http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+27%3A13-32&version=NIV#fen-NIV-27884c c deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feetd]">http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+27%3A13-32&version=NIV#fen-NIV-27884d d deep. 29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away. Everything going wrong for Paul Paradox of storms First Paul says that they'll be saved, then he says that they can't be saved if the sailors leave It's a problem because we view it as an either/or: either everything that happens is part of God's will or our actions matter Objection: I want to be in charge of my own life (when you get older, you don't believe that) (compatabilism) Purpose of storms (God's purpose) General: the good Jacob's sons were in trouble: stuck up and jealous; Joseph is enslaved, imprisoned, in a dungeon. None of the healing would've happened without the bad Specific: the godly Presence of God In the storm, God is with you (the gospel) God as the ultimate Jonah; he was consumed so we can be saved God is with us in suffering; we may not know the reason for suffering but he chose to endure suffering as well